Are your customers and end-users satisfied with the applications
you developed and supporting? Do you have old legacy systems
that have suffered countless patches due to new requirements and
market trends?.

As an IT manager, had you set as an important goal to maintain
high service levels, but now demand is growing, the maintenance
effort is overflowing, and you feel itís impossible to satisfy
new business needs or incorporate new technologies?

If you analyze deeper these perceptions, you may detect that:
Although the applications satisfy users needs, they are lacking
the necessary documentation in order to reduce maintenance
effort. Software design has gradually deteriorated and a change
request implies more analysis and effort. Testing effort is
growing and is less effective due to higher complexity. You
actually know that this effort could be smaller if the
applications were easier to maintain. You depend on certain
people who are confident with the software: you know that this
represents a high risk for you and your company.

Although you are worried about keeping your database healthy,
you have been unable to control the quality of its structure and
the basic standards needed to ensure an information support
asset with high reliability and integrity. You have to invest
considerable effort when you integrate information from
different sources. Youíve always dreamt to have a data
administration department, but you never have (and suspect that
you never will have) the proper time and resources to do this.

The last audit report includes many findings on security aspects
and information confidentiality; and leaves you in a weak
position in relation to the robustness of the service that you
intend to provide. And itís not the first time that this has
happened to you.

In addition, upper management has requested that you analyze a
reduction of costs for next year
You have to search the market for an integrated solution for a
new business need, and you cannot define the requirements of the
interface because thereís no functional or technical
documentation for the legacy systems.